LANGUE ET PIED DE COCHON

Having a five-week old in the house has gotten me to do many things I wouldn't ordinarily do, one being actually using what's in my freezer. I found two Ziploc bags of pig trotters and tongues, thawed them, and got them into a brine. Can't recall where I read the bit about wine brines - maybe it was Hartley. Not sure. Never tried it before so I added what was left of a bottle of Malbec and let the flavors mingle for four days.

A slow cook in reserved chicken stock (also from the freezer), bay leaves, and chunks of country bacon (freezer, again) finished off the braise. Let the trotters completely break down. Ditto for tongues. When the outer membranes are hanging from them, it's time to get to work on the terrine.

Peel the membranes from tongues and roughly chop meat. Discard trotters' bones and chop meat. Mix tonuge and trotter meat. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, garlic. Reserve three cups cooking liquid and reduce to two or 1.5 cups on stove. Get terrine mold or bread tin ready. Line with cling film. Once cooking liquid has cooled, pour a thin layer into the bottom of the tin. Add tongue and trotter meat, and cover with the cooking liquid.

The terrine will begin to set as it cools. I left mine out on the chopping block for a few hours and covered the top with cling film and put it into the fridge. Legend has it terrines benefit from four to five days in a fridge, as their flavor develops over time. I could only wait three days.

Decant terrine and carve thick slices. Baguette, mustard, cornichon. Flavor is hammy and gelatinous. Sort of like intensely flavored head cheese. Have a few beers. Act like you're in Lyon. It's finally spring, assholes.